It’s the best time of year — my holiday baking list is ready!
Holiday baking has been a huge tradition for me ever since my grandma taught me her recipes. I love hearing what others are making this season — it’s honestly the only time I truly enjoy baking.
Last year I scaled back on cookies a lot, but this year I’m excited to put together festive platters and boxes for friends and family. Packaging and gifting homemade treats is one of my favorite things to do.
For years Lacy and I would bake together — one of our annual projects is a buche de noel. We often start late at night and it takes longer than expected, but it’s always worth it. We also make candied citrus peels and homemade amaretto every year; those are staples we’ve been gifting since the recipes first came out. When I make amaretto on my own, most of it ends up being gifts for friends.
We also make my take on whiskey pretzels, which everyone loves. They’re a fun snack to include in gift boxes. I usually make a batch of caramel chipotle Chex mix to share as well.
And of course, I create a holiday baking playlist to keep me company. If you follow me on Spotify (howsweeteats), you’ll find several of my seasonal playlists.
MY 2021 HOLIDAY BAKING LIST
Below is my ideal lineup of what I’d love to bake this season.
Always on the list: the chocolate crinkle sprinkle cookies from The Pretty Dish — they’re unbeatable. I also have a new sprinkle cookie recipe coming next week.
Royal cookies — a newer favorite from a couple of years ago that we adore.
Cashew butter buckeyes, and maybe regular buckeyes too depending on my mood. Sometimes I love them, sometimes I pass.
My all-time favorite peanut butter blossoms — I can’t get enough of these.
Lemon crinkle cookies — these are always a hit and people get excited when I make them.
Soft snickerdoodles and chewy chai snickerdoodles — I never can choose between the classic and the chai-spiced version.
Soft gingersnaps — sometimes I multiply this recipe several times over because we devour them. And that’s saying something, since I’m not usually a gingersnap person.
Old-school Oreo balls — a nostalgic staple that always shows up on my list.
Bourbon-soaked cherry oatmeal chocolate chip cookies — I’m feeling these this year; they’re rich and festive.
Mother Lovett’s pink and green thumbprints — a must for the holidays and a favorite of my mom and aunt.
Mother Lovett’s orange cookies — always a crowd-pleaser and a timeless hit.
Peanut butter M&M cookie bars made with red and green M&Ms for a festive touch.
Peanut butter fudge — I usually try a different recipe each year even though Mother Lovett had a classic version I love.
Pretzel peanut butter–stuffed chocolate bark — salty, sweet, and perfect for packaging.
I’ll probably make some peppermint bark and chocolate-covered Oreos. For a quick hack, I sometimes buy white fudge-covered Oreos, drizzle them with dark chocolate, and add sprinkles.
And I always include perfect cut-out sugar cookies — they’re foolproof and versatile. I often use cream cheese frosting or a dip-icing technique, sometimes marbled. For the cookies pictured above, I finished them with a light spray of edible glitter for extra sparkle.
HOW I MAKE MY COOKIE BOX
I make similar cookie boxes each year — it’s a tradition that goes back to Mother Lovett. She used cookie tins as hostess gifts and also gave boxes to friends and family, and everyone always looked forward to them.
I love keeping that tradition alive. Mother Lovett favored tins, and I’ve had luck finding cookie tins and gift boxes at Target, The Container Store, and even dollar stores. My favorite way to present a large assortment is with sturdy gift boxes that come in round and rectangular shapes. For the box shown here I cut inserts from another box to create individual compartments for the cookies, which helps keep everything neat and pretty.
I should note I don’t mail these boxes — I deliver them in person to friends and family within driving distance. From past experience, mailed homemade cookie boxes often arrive with broken cookies unless packed with a lot of protective padding, so I avoid shipping when possible.
So tell me — what are you baking this season?